The Cult of Synanon, Part 1

Sounds Like A Cult

Studio71

Comedy, Education, Religion & Spirituality, Society & Culture

4 • 3.8K Ratings

🗓️ 10 December 2024

⏱️ 66 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Buy tickets to The Big Magical Cult Show in Vancouver, Canada on February 21, 2025!

Father is back!!! No, not Father Algorithm, but *actual* Father. Indeed, Amanda's sweetie dad, Craig Montell, returns to the pod after his featurette on last year's cult of Military Wives episode, for an extra-special end-of-year, two-part deep dive into the cult that he survived and that inspired this entire show: Synanon. Craigo brings his dad charm and cult experience to break down exactly how this well-intentioned drug rehabilitation program spiraled into a full-on '70s compound complete with paranoia, hypocrisy, and some very strange hairstyling choices. This "classic cult" discussion may not be typical SLAC fodder, but the story is actually more relevant than ever. Craig is here not just to divulge his shocking past, but also to scrutinize how Synanon’s same rituals and methods of manipulation are alive and well in today's society, from our politics to our social media feeds. Cozy in for some culty parental wisdom, and stay tuned for Part 2 next week to hear the end of the tale!

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Transcript

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0:00.0	Canadian culties, this message is for you.
0:02.6	Huge culty announcement, you are invited to come join the sounds like a cult cult in person
0:08.4	for a one-night-only live show at the Just for Laughs Festival in Vancouver on Friday, February 21st at 7 p.m.
0:15.8	The show is called The Big Magical Cult Show, and it is so much fun.
0:23.5	Not only does the show involve a deep dive analysis into the cults of parisocial relationships, not to be missed, but there are also
0:28.7	drag and burlesque performances, hilarious special guests, custom culty merch and drinks, a meet-and-greet,
0:35.5	and some truly ridiculous surprises that honestly can't be
0:39.3	explained. They just have to be experienced. Tickets are available now, so head to Sounds Like a
0:43.9	colt.com to purchase and make sure to snag one before they're sold out, because this is going to be
0:48.3	an intimate little gathering. The big magical cult show is coming to the Biltmore Cavaray in
0:53.2	Vancouver, Canada, for one night only on February 21st, and we hope you join us.
0:59.3	This episode was recorded at the Spotify podcast studios in downtown Los Angeles.
1:04.3	If you would like to watch this episode and beautiful high-quality video, check it out on our YouTube channel.
1:09.8	Link and Show Notes.
1:12.1	The views expressed on this episode, as with all episodes of Sounds Like a Cult, are solely host opinions and quoted allegations.
1:17.5	The content here should not be taken as indisputable fact. This podcast is for entertainment purposes only.
1:23.2	We are always facing the possibility of a cult leader, exerting much, much more power over
1:31.1	people's lives and minds than they initially set out to do. We look around the world today in
1:37.2	2024, and we see lots of strong men who didn't start out as strong men. And just as a result of their power, they started doing things that were really just in their own self-interest.
1:50.8	They forgot about all the causes that got them into politics, starting an organization.
1:56.3	I don't think we could ever get to a time when we can't think about the dangers of the really bad cults.
2:07.6	This is Sounds Like a Cult, a show about the modern day cults we all follow.
	...

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